Pursuing pins around NYC's "World of Disney" Store

After spending nearly the entire month of July out in Southern California covering variousMouse-relatedevents for JHM, I returned to my quiet home in Connecticut ... only to find myself immediately going through Disney withdrawal!

Hoping that a quick Mickey fix might help me get over my I-ain't-in-Anaheim-no-more blues, I hooked up with my old pal, Roddy last Monday. Then the two of us caught a train into the city. Where -- after hiking across much of Manhattan -- we finally found ourselves at the corner of Fifth Avenue & 55th Street. Which (as any good Disney Dweeb can tell you) is where NYC's "World of Disney" store is located.

Photo by Jeff Lange

As it turns out, we'd arrived at the "World of Disney" on a very special day. As you can see, the Mouse was in the house!

Photo by Jeff Lange

According to the signs that were on display throughout the store, Mickey had made a special trip up from Disney World that day just so he could visit with his pals in NYC.

Photo by Jeff Lange

And -- sure enough -- up in the third floor, in the store's "Cinderella's Royal Court" area, Disney's main mouse was meeting-and-greeting Manhattanites. Pressing the flesh, posing for pictures.

Photo by Jeff Lange

And when Mickey had to go on break ... Well, his loyal pooch, Pluto, was happy to step in and pose with the public.

Photo by Jeff Lange

Mind you, the Walt Disney Company hadn't sent Mickey & Pluto to Manhattan just out of the goodness of its heart. No, the Mouse had a not-so-hidden agenda here. Disney had sent the Mickster and his faithful dog up to the Big Apple to help kick off a month-long promotional event at the "World of Disney" store. WoD's first pin pursuit.

Photo by Jeff Lange

The way this event works is that "World of Disney" customers have to pick up a special NYC-themed map as they enter the 5th Avenue store. Then -- by wandering from floor-to-floor answering Disney-related trivia questions and/or trading pins with WoD cast members -- they earn a stamp. Collect all six stamps and you get a complimentary "Happiest Celebration on Earth" pin.

Of course, if that sounds too much like work to you, I guess you can just buy some of the limited edition pins that NYC's "World of Disney" store currently has up for sale. Modeled after six of the 75 "InspEARations" Mickey Mouse statues that have been touring the country for the past six months, the pins available for purchase are:

Speaking of Ms. Romano ... Christy will actually be making an appearance at NYC's "World of Disney" store this coming Friday morning. Ms. Romano will be signing autographs & greeting her fans from 12 noon to 2 p.m. on August 12th. For further information on Christy's in-store appearance, click on this link.

Anyway ... Getting back to those collectible pins: Each of these six pins is limited to an edition size of 500. Each pin will retail for $8.95 apiece (plus tax).

More to the point, each of these pins has been designed to closely resemble the statue that actually inspired it. And -- if you don't believe that -- Well ... You can just take a pin off the rack and do a side-by-side comparison to the full-sized "Celebrate Mickey: 75 InspEARations" statue that this collectible is based on.

Yep. You read that right. The statues are here. 9 of them, anyway. Including the six that directly inspired the collectible pins that are currently on sale in NYC's "World of Disney" store.

Photo by Jeff Lange

Come back on Friday ... And we'll take a closer look at the statues themselves.